Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - Wednesday of Holy Week
[Isaiah 50:4-9A and Matthew 26:14-25]The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Religious and political leaders (and media outlets that report on them) make much of their "legacy." In our own country, our presidents seem to have a certain pharaonic pretensions in that they build a "library" to hold all their documents so that scholars may come and write books about them and create their "legacy." Political decisions are sometimes made with that "legacy" in mind. The long term approval rate seems to count as much as the current poll at times! Was Jesus concerned about such a thing? The "legacy" of Jesus, if such a word may be used about him, was in the making more than 500 years before he came. Reading the "songs" of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah this week can give us an outline of what awaited him in terms of how his followers would eventually understand his life, mission and message. A section of today's passage from Isaiah is quoted above. Furthermore, the entire New Testament is an effort to understand Jesus and his "legacy." The disciples on the road to Emmaus after Jesus' death and resurrection (Luke 24) speak in a way that shows the process of interpretation in action. Jesus comes along and sets them straight and they learn how to live the legacy. In short, his legacy is not simply what he DID and SAID, but is manifested in what his disciples DO and SAY. His confidence shakes from time to time in the garden of Gethsemane, but remains firm in seeing the mission to its end. It is that same faith and confidence that the disciples then and now share and preach. But to understand it, we must know the scriptures and our tradition, and DO and SAY what Jesus DOES and SAYS in our own time. The Lord God is our help, therefore we are not disgraced. Holy Week reminds us of this. AMEN
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